Show ''' WEDNESDAYFebruary 1 1 1998 Section B jegattffakeSrifmnr 4 BUSINESS Davit Salt Lake Utah Rsd Wood Burning Prohibited Yellow - Wood Burning Discouraged Green - Wood Burning Allowed Weber ! i AIR QUALITY- - Page BY LEE SIEGEL THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE PAUL ROLLY and 1 JACOBSEN-WELL- S 998 The Salt Lake Tribune QUOTAS OR NO QUOTAS? Recently we told you about a letter of reprimand Utah Highway Patrol Trooper John Davis received from his ser- geant Roger Cutler in the liHP Kane County Division Part of the reprimand was for failing to get enough DUI arrests noting: As of today you have arrested four DUIs This as you know is as by the end of the month you should be at seven Highway Patrol spokesman Verdi White told us Cutler merely had used a poor choice of words to convey his concerns about Davis perfor- mauce White said the patrol does not have DUI quotas Au contraire We have heard from several troopers who say yes in some areas the patrol does have DUI quotas and they sent us documentation to prove it The formal evaluation criteria for Salt Lake County lists several objectives including DUI arrests which troopers need to be in line for favorable transfers promotions and merit pay increases It requires a minimum of 12 DUI arrests per year for a fair evaluation and 14 per ear for a good evaluation j A trooper in Moab was suspended in December for falsifying DUI reports The troopers said there is no ex- cuse for falsifying a report But he was pressured to meet his quota - ' ' h ' rocket built mostly in Utah blasted off Tuesday from California and carried into orbit three satellites and the cremated remains of 3Q people including a physicist educated at Weber State and Utah State universities The Taurus rockets first stage was a Castor 120 motor built at Thiokol Corps Promontory facility near Brigham City The Orion second third and fourth stages and the cover were made at A pay-loa- d AJ-lia- nt Techsystems Inc in Magna Thiokol and Alliant were to Virginia- subcontractors based Orbital Sciences Corp which assembled the rocket It was the second space burial by Celestis Inc a Houston company that last year sent into orbit the ashes of LSD guru' Timothy Leary and creator Gene Star Trek Roddenberry Celestis charges $4800 to of a perput a quarter-ounc- e sons ashes into a lipstick-siz- e capsule and launch it into orbit The Taurus rockets fourth stage carried the cremains of 30 people when the vehicle lifted off from Vandenberg Air Force Base Calif at 6:20 am MST See ROCKET Page Wendover Is on the Verge Of Bankruptcy Says Mayor Unfinished Runway Project Saddles Town With $5 Million Debt BY PHIL MILLER THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE WENDOVER This dusty border town of casino workers and potash miners is nearly $5 million in debt and facing bankruptcy unless a state or federal bailout is forthcoming Construction on a new runway at the Utah towns airport an $88 million project that is about complete has halted and Wendover owes Gibbons & Reed two-thir- B-- 3 10000-foo- t Is Green was subpoenaed for a deposition in the office of Special Utah Assistant j Atty Gen Harold A Kintze on ( Jeb 6 - The subpoena directed ' i Green to lay all other business aside and be in Hintzes office at 10:30 ara to give a deposition before a certified court re- porter for the case UDOT vs Abraham Markosian" Markosians property is construcneeded for the tion Markosian hired Green to take aerial photos of Marko-- i sians H&K Truck Equipment near the offramp Gieen was commanded to ! j i ' ' bring his photos Green did what he was told and waited an hour No one showed to take his deposition Hintze says he thought Mar- kosians attorney would notify Green the deposition was de-- ! layed That didnt happen Guess what taxpayers get to do: Pay $175 for Greens time SLEEP IN THE BARN? Sen Leonard Blackham ruffled feathers recently by comparing the rearing of children to raising turkeys Blackham a turkey farmer wants to ease the restrictions on home child care Angela Ca-- i sady a member of the State Association for Family Child Care said that Blackham told her and colleagues: Not ev- eryone can raise a good turkey J because you have to be kind of j rough with a turkey It is kind of like that with kids Blackham denies making the ' comment Must be the echoes off all those lobbyists in the halls again ' THE NAME GAME Salt Lake County Commissioner Mary Callaghan last week sent a letter to constituents announcing she will run The letter infor cluded au endorsement list of n includUtahns well-know- ing Midvale Mayor JoAnn Seghini who has written a letter to Salt Lake County Democratic Chairman Joe Hatch stating she has not endorsed Callaghan and never gave approval for use of her name I B-- 3 1-- 15 4 Funding Reliable? UDOT Cant Come Up With $200 Million BY JOHN KEAHEY THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE BIG BROTHER S NO SHOW Richard J landing strip big See WENDOVER Page For more than a year GOFlaw-maker- s have expected Utah highway officials to chop $200 million from the state transportation budget and use that money to help pay for $283 billion in highway projects through 2008 That expectation was challenged Tuesday by legislative Democrats who believe that $200 million is an impossible target for the Utah Department of Transportation If that number is squishy say the Democrats what about other revenue sources to cover the next 10 years of major road construction? Those issues came up during a Democratic Party caucus at the state Capitol Under questioning from Democratic senators and representatives UDOTs No 2 official Deputy Director Clint said his agency could muster only $376 million in savings by changing such things as how the agency manages insurance claims and adjusting the timing of construction bonds He then suggested that millions more could be saved by reducing engineering overhead by 10 percent That could save as much as $130 million from projects UDOT has yet to begin These savings will translate he told the into more concrete Democrats But Topham caught the lawmakers attention when he said he had no idea where the $200 million target repeated often in legislative discussions during the past year came from House Minority Leader Dave Jones of Salt Lake City said that proves the Republican-generate- d numbers are smoke and mir- Three years ago House Speaker Mel Brown supported a bill to remove quotas But UHP officials persuaded him to drop the legislation if they agreed to voluntarily remove quotas White says in Salt Lake 2 County the written standards are not strictly enforced He conceded the requirements may vary in other counties Commercial photographer I decided to expand its airport and add a 10000-foo- t runway to accommodate large jets full of gamblers on overnight excursions Potential landing-fe- e revenues were used as collateral to obtain construction loans with the understanding that about $5 million in Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) entitlement grants also would be made available once the project was complete Gibbons & Reed began building the giant new runway aimed at making Wendover one of only three commercial airports in Utah with a construction company nearly $4 million for work already done Considering the town has an annual budget of less than $500000 Wendover has no way to pay its bills The figures just stagger me Were staring at a $9 million hole said Mayor Kent Peterson who took office in the town of 1200 last month If we dont get some help we wont have much choice but to go bankrupt The Utah town exists in large part to support the casinos of its much wealthier neighbor West a role that led Wendover Nev to Wendovers current cash crisis Nearly five years ago the town 15-ye- ar - 4 633-723- 9 Human Ashes Soar to Final Rest On Board Rocket Made in Utah JOANN B-- Lynn R JohnnonThe Salt Lake Tribune To-pha- m front and his son Joel lay rebar on the 2700 South bridge over Interstate 5 in the Sait Lake Valley on Tuesday Democratic lawmakers at the Capitol were questioning how the state will finish paying for the massive reconstruction project As Sonny Chaudoin 1 Cook Tells Lawmakers: Dont Sweat the Road Funding BY MATTHEW BROWN THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Lawmakers fretting over how to fund billions of dollars in highway construction received a rosy forecast on Tuesday about the odds of getting the needed federal dollars Congressman Merrill Cook said the state has a 90 percent chance of receiving at least $400 million out of the $450 million it has built into a financing plan for the $28 billion reconstruction of Interstate 15 and other state roads I am on the team to get this passed so I may be more optimistic the first-terRepublican who sits on the panel reauthorizing federal highway funding told the state House of Representatives I hope hes right House Majority Leader Christine said of Cooks prediction Hes more optimistic than I am Im not overly optimistic that Congress will act timely m Lawmakers are scrambling to fill a $190 million to $230 million hole in the financing plan For this year the state is counting on an extra $50 million for over the regular sum of $130 million the state receives each year from the federal government With Congress at an impasse over how to distribute highway funding the state has received just $39 million of its annual federal funding and none of that is earmarked for By transferring money left over from other projects state transportation planners have infused $14 million in federal funds into Cook never mentioned and no one asked when the federal funding would be authorized Congress has until April 1 to reauthorize the financing of federal highways for the next six years or to delay the decision Instead Cook touted the House version of the federal highwayfunding package he has been involved in creating He said it would boost Utahs share of federal highway funding by $750 million during the next six years He said the biggest difference between proposals from the House and Senate which would bring an extra $400 million is an extra $250 million Utah would receive for hosting the 2002 Winter Olympics and for undertaking the reconstruction of But House Minority Leader Dave Jones asked Cook to explain his confidence in Utah getting a large infusion of cash for the Olympics when Georgias larger delegation seeking money for the 1996 Summer Games got only $53 million in federal transportation money for the Olympics Cook said he based his optimism on assurances from leadership that the House and Senate will do their part The person we need to work on hardest in this country on transportation is President Clinton Cook said Our problem is rors The $200 million regularly appears on spread sheets used to show revenue sources for projects listed in the Centennial Rep Merrill Cook says Utah get highway funding will See LAWMAKERS getting the administration to understand the importance of highways B-- B More legislative news 3 A-- 5 Appeals Court Rules Magistrates Are Bound by Speedy Trial Act BY SHEILA R McCANN THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE Federal magistrates must meet deadlines set by the Speedy Trial Act the 10th US Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled rejecting prosecutors arguments that only judges are bound by the law The decision vacated a drug conviction against Maria Louisa Mora 35 a California woman arrested Jan 8 1996 at the Salt Lake International Airport A baseball-siz- e container of heroin was hidden in her pants The ruling may also add fuel to an evaluation now under way of whether Utahs US District Court needs additional magis- trates This will force a major change in the way things are handled at the magistrates court predicted Moras defense attorney Stephen McCaughey Moras prosecution paused between April 9 1996 and Jan 31 1997 as US Magistrate Samuel Alba considered and then recommended denial of her request to suppress evidence of the drugs McCaughey argued that delay violated Moras rights under the Speedy Trial Act which generally requires defendants to be brought to trial within 70 days of their indictment or first court appearance The act allowed Alba 30 days to rule he contended then the clock started again Prosecutors retorted that only federal judges are bound by the act The clock stopped until US District Judge Tena Campbell received Albas report they contended Campbell agreed and rejected Moras request to dismiss the case Mora appealed and the Denver appellate court heard arguments in January Issuing a swift resolution this week Circuit Judge Wiliam J Kolloway wrote that the governments interpretation would essentially gut the law Under that reading the district judge can simply render the act meaningless by who passing off issues to the magistrate then has an unlimited amount of time to consider the issues Holloway wrote for the three-judg- e panel Defendants would be left in an indefinite limbo while magistrates mulled their cases Holloway said In Utah some decisions have been postponed by magistrates for six months or even up to a year McCaughey said Theyre overworked he added Utahs district court now has two fulltime magistrates in Salt Lake City plus three part-tim- e magistrates around the state Its judges already have authorized an internal audit of whether an additional magistrate is needed Were in a study mode right now Chief US District Judge David Sam said Tuesday Mora entered a conditional guilty plea to possession of heroin with intent to distribute and was sentenced in June to 37 months in prison 5 years of probation and a $1500 fine She has been in custody since her ar-- ( rest The appeals court reversed Moras conviction but did not decide whether her case would be dismissed with prejudice which would mean it could not be refiled The case was remanded to Campbell to an- that question US Attorney David Schwendiman did not return a call Tuesday swer Mora had been detained at the airport after drug enforcement agents received a tip about her arrival from a California detective CORRECTIONS & CLARIFICATIONS Plan-Theater Company will present Fahrenheit 451 at the New Hope Center 1102 N 400 West Salt Lake City Thursdays through Saturdays at 7:30 pm through March 7 An incorrect address was listed in Sundays Tribune B I1! |